Lake New Melones Fishing Report with Josh Parris

The bite remains very good on New Melones lake with fish falling for a multitude of baits. I’ve been starting my trips with topwater and glide baits to find the early morning action and big bites. My line up for top water has been River2sea whopper ploppers 130/190

and Rover 128’s

in shad and bluegill patterns. For chasing big bites the IMA big stick

has been a key player.

For glide baits the IMA Glide Fluke

has been hammering them in the floating 178 and 125 size.

Depending on the day once the the sun gets up I’ve been running one of two patterns, finesse soft plastics or power fishing cranks and rip baits. If there’s been a significant drop in the lake level over night I’ve been opting for finesse as the water drop tends to pull the fish off the bank and if it’s held stable I’ll opt for power fishing.

My finesse line up has been X Zone tubes

and punch craws Texas rigged with 1/4 oz.

My power fishing baits have been the Ima Pinjack 200

and Deps Balisong 100.

As mid day approaches I’ve been finishing there has been some midday top water to be had, again it seems to be better on the days the water level has remained stable.

Also beware of unmarked island tops just under the surface as there are many on main lake!